KTK: The basic account includes a payment card

Insider

The Central Bank of Cyprus (KTK), as it states in its announcement, with the aim of shielding consumers in relation to the charges of credit institutions, proposed from February 2020 to the Ministry of Finance a specific package of measures for the charges imposed on Payment Bills with Basic Features. The proposal was fully adopted with the issuance of Decrees for the determination of reasonable fees.

The submission of a proposal to the Ministry of Finance for the determination of reasonable fees in Payment Accounts with Basic Characteristics is the only possibility provided by the state laws to the CBC for intervention in the debits of the banks, as he states.

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The CBC recalls what the Decrees provide in relation to payment cards and Payment Accounts with Key Features:

Services offered by credit institutions through the Payout Account with Key Features include payments by payment card. Credit institutions are required to provide a debit card to make payment transactions, including online payments. According to the relevant Law (Law 64 (I) / 2017), credit institutions may, but are not required to, offer a Payout Account with Basic Features that includes the service of executing payment transactions via credit card. For a range of basic services that cover all the usual banking needs of the average consumer, the Payout Account with Key Features is not allowed to carry total charges in excess of 36 euros per year. The ceiling is 0 euros for holders of Payment Accounts with Basic Characteristics who are recipients of the Minimum Guaranteed Income. Cash withdrawals from Payments Account with Key Features via ATMs owned by credit institutions within the European Union are free. The ceiling does not cover a payment transaction that exceeds 5,000 euros. The ceiling covers an unlimited number of payment transactions made by debit card. The ceiling covers direct debits, credit card payments and credit transfers, including standing orders, up to a limit of 100 transactions per year.